On the Internet, social networks allow users to connect to and share information with each other. Many social networks include a content sharing aspect that allows users to upload, view, and share content, such as video content, image content, audio content, and so on. Other users of the social network may comment on the shared content, discover new content, locate updates, share content, and otherwise interact with the provided content. The shared content may include content from professional content creators, e.g., movie clips, TV clips, and music videos, as well as content from amateur content creators, e.g., video blogging and short original videos.
Currently, users are spending increased amounts of time on content sharing platforms. “Sharing” of content items between users of the content sharing platform and with users of other social networks is important for driving views of content items of the content sharing platform, starting viewing sessions on the content sharing platform, and increasing watch time of content items on the content sharing platform. Sharing refers to a user of the content sharing platform promoting and/or endorsing a content item to another user of the content sharing platform or of another social network for viewing purposes.
Often a user decides whether to consume (e.g., view, listen, etc.) a content item based on metadata (e.g., statistics) about the consumption of the content item by other users, such as the number of times the content item has been viewed or the number of times the content item has been liked or given a positive rating. However, content items shared via a social network typically are not presented with information about the consumption of the content item that is up-to-date, such as the current number of views or the current number of likes.